Kim Glass, a professional volleyball player who won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics, suffered facial features after being brutally attacked with a metal pipe by a homeless man, reports CNN.
Glass posted a video on her Instagram describing the incident and the footage shows her right eye swollen, a gash on her nose, with stitches under her eyebrow.
While saying goodbye to a friend after lunch in downtown Los Angeles, Glass said a homeless man who the authorities have identified as 51-year-old Semeon Tesfamarian, ran up to her out of nowhere and threw a metal object that hit her face. She said the attack left her with a fractured cheek and she required stitches for lacerations.
“He had something in his hand on the other side of the car in the street and he just kind of looked at me with some pretty hateful eyes and as I turned to go tell my friend, ‘I think something’s wrong with him, I think he’s gonna hit the car,’ before I knew it, a big metal bolt, like a pipe, hit me in my eye,” she recalled. “Hit me here, here. It happened so fast—he literally flung it from the street so he was not even close to me at all.”
Seeing her under physical duress, several bystanders came to assist her until the paramedics arrived on the scene. Also, Glass said her friends along with others on the scene held down the suspect until the police arrived.
The Los Angeles Police Department stated that officers responded to the assault with a deadly weapon call around 2:30 p.m. on July 8, 2022.
“There were actually multiple citizens that were holding the suspect awaiting police response and he was taken into custody without incident,” said Officer Drake Madison, a spokesperson for the LAPD.
Glass is expected to make a full recovery and despite the circumstances, found humor in how her eyelashes stayed on during the ordeal.
“And shout out to these eyelashes that have been on ever since,” Glass said. “I don’t know who made these but can I get a deal? Because you guys are awesome. Love you guys.”
